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In the biggest
ceasefire violation along the 191.5-km International Border in a decade, Pak
Rangers rained mortars and heavy machinegun fire on at least 26 Indian posts
and some villages in Jammu and Samba districts.

Two BSF personnel
were injured on Friday and a Pakistani intruder was killed in retaliatory
firing. The BSF foiled multiple infiltration attempts through the night, said
BSF spokesperson Vinod Yadav.

The two border
guards have received minor splinter injuries. The have been identified as
Sarvodh Kumar and Samir Ghosh of 193 Battalion. "They were injured in
Nikowal post of RS Pura sector around 10 pm after Rangers opened unprovoked
fire," said the spokesperson.

With the injuries
to two more BSF personnel, the total number of injured in Pakistani firing in
the past 24 hours has risen to nine, including five civilians. The BSF used
hotline to lodge a protest via a forward post in Samba as it claimed the
Pakistani side had earlier refused to respond. On Friday, the Pakistani side
remained in denial mode, the spokesman said.

The spokesperson
said the Rangers have refused to accept the body of an intruder shot dead by
the BSF in Suchetgarh. The Rangers pounded Budhwar and Tent posts in Arnia
sector, Nikowal, Sangral, Mangral, Allah Mai De Kothe, Jai Kishan, Jugnu Chak
and Nawapind in RS Pura sector, 6R and Suchaitpur Kulian in Samba sector, Regal
and Khwara in Ghagwal sub-sector, Pansar in Hiranagar sector, Najwal, Jaman
Bela and Nikowal villages and Jamuna Bela, Najwal, Matkula, Maljoda in Pargwal
sector and Kanachak BD Forward in Kanachak sector. BSF sources said the firing
began on at 7.30 p m on Friday and continued till 5 am today.

The Rangers
targeted 26 posts and civilian areas in RS Pura, Pargwal, Samba, Hiranagar in
Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts. "We retaliated in equal measure,"
the spokesman said. An Islamabad report said Pakistan claimed a civilian was
killed and two others were injured in alleged "unprovoked firing" by
the BSF. Against the backdrop of increased ceasefire violations by Pakistan,
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde will visit the forward areas on October
22.

In biggest
ceasefire violation in 10 years, Pak troops open fire at 25 locations on
international border

Jammu:In the biggest ceasefire violation along the International Border
in a decade, Pakistani soldiers opened fire at Border Security Force (BSF)
posts at 25 different locations in the Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir on
Friday night. Sources in the BSF say they have asked for a flag meeting to
lodge formal protest but are awaiting response from Pakistan.

The firing, that began around 7:30 pm on
Friday and continued through the night, stopped on Saturday morning. The BSF
retaliated with mortars.

Two BSF personnel were injured and one
infiltrator was killed as the Indian Army foiled multiple infiltrations bids
through the night.

There have been over 150 incidents of
ceasefire violations by Pakistan in the last two months. (Injured in Pak
shelling: Children aged 10, 12 and 14)

People living in the area near the border
say they are considering migrating to safer places as their houses have been
damaged in the firing. (Watch video here)

Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said the
government will handle the "high priority" matter "with great
determination to protect sovereignty and safety of the country." "We
have full confident in our forces. We owe them tremendous gratitude for showing
restrain, dedication, determination and total preparedness to face any situation,"
he added.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah has said New Delhi should take up the issue strongly with Pakistan,
adding that it would be "extremely difficult to maintain talks on
ceasefire if the situation worsened." (Ceasefire violations worse after
PM-Sharif meeting: Omar Abdullah)

Intelligence sources say there are more
than 40 training camps across the Line of Control and 700 militants are ready
to infiltrate. More ceasefire violations are likely just before winter sets in
and snow blocks the passes, they add. (Infiltration attempts will increase as
Lashkar, Jaish terrorists wait to enter India: Intelligence sources)

Mr Abdullah yesterday also questioned why
the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart
Nawaz Sharif last month has failed to stop the spurt in such incidents.

In the backdrop of the increased ceasefire
violations, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde will visit forward areas
along the International Border on October 22 to review the security situation.

ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan accused Indian military forces of killing a civilian and wounding two
others in "unprovoked firing" across the border on Saturday in the
latest frontier flare-up between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

A Pakistani
military official said a civilian was killed and two others were injured
"due to unprovoked firing of heavy weapons including mortars by Indian
Border Security Forces" near the eastern city of Sialkot in eastern Punjab
province.

On Thursday,
Pakistan accused India of killing a paramilitary soldier in "unprovoked
firing" across the border in the same region.

The incident comes
just weeks after the prime ministers of the two countries pledged to restore
calm along the Line of Control (LoC), the heavily militarized border in
Kashmir, at a meeting in New York.

A deadly flare-up
along the LoC in January stalled peace talks that had only just resumed
following a three-year hiatus sparked by the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, which
killed 166 people.

Fresh violence
erupted on the LoC after five Indian soldiers were killed in a raid in August.

Government to set
up first separate pay commission for Indian military

India's armed
forces are likely to have their own pay panel for the first time since
independence.

This comes as the
government prepares to set up the seventh Pay Commission to decide on salary
hikes for the 50 lakh central government employees, ahead of state polls and
national elections due by May. The pay panel's recommendations are expected to
be implemented from January 2016.

All three military
chiefs had written to the Defence Minister last year, asking for pay parity
with civilian employees. The armed forces have also been demanding the one rank
one pension and one rank one pay rule.

They are also
pushing for fixing rank pay and fixing pay structure for jawans and junior
commissioned officers (JCOs).

In June last year,
Defence Minister AK Antony had reportedly written to Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh on "growing discontent among the services personnel due to the
anomalies in payment and salaries."

Mr Antony had said
that service personnel, ex-servicemen and pensioners were "equally
agitated" and suggested that corrective action be taken or "things
may take a bad turn."

A month later, the
PM set up a four-member committee of secretaries, headed by the Cabinet
Secretary, to look into the demands. The armed forces had then objected to the
absence of military representation on the committee. Later, some of the
anomalies were corrected, and the government had promised a separate pay
commission for the armed forces.

Government
salaries had been substantially hiked under the sixth pay commission headed by
Justice BN Srikrishna. The revised pays fixed the salary of the Cabinet
Secretary at Rs. 90,000 a month and Secretary at Rs. 80,000 per month, while
making Rs. 6,660 as the minimum entry level salary.

After intelligence
agencies have warned about the inscreasing of infiltration attempts Lashkar,
Jaish-e-Mohammad and Al Bader terrorists wait to enter Valley before the onset
of winter, Pakistani Army opened fire at Border Security Force (BSF) posts at
25 different locations in Jammu and Samba districts.

According to the
defence sources, the firing continued through the night and the BSF retaliated
with mortars. Two BSF personnel were injured and one infiltrator was killed in
the firing as the Indian Army foiled multiple infiltration bids through the
night.

Pakistani Rangers
are giving cover fire to the terrorists, who are planning more Samba-style fidyeen
attacks in Jammu.

According to BSF
sources, one terrorist was killed and his body is lying near the zero line in
Suchatgarh area of RS Pura sector in Jammu.

Heavy exchange of
fire was reported from Kathua, Samba, Hira Nagar, RS Pura and Pargawal sectors.There
have been almost 197 ceasefire violations by Pakistan this year.

Last evening BSF
apprehended a Pakistani national at Malu Chak Border out Post (BoP) in Ramgarh
sector of Samba district. The arrested Pakistani is identified as Abzal. He was
being questioned to ascertain reasons for his infiltration. The BSF handed over
the Pakistani national to Ramgarh police for questioning.

In Forward area of
Chajja Man along the LoC in Balnoi sector of Poonch district, Army opened
firing at 7 pm after observing movement of a group of militants trying to
infiltrate into the Indian territory.

The militants were
forced to retreat to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) from where they had been
launched.

Sources in
intelligence said that around 600 well-trained and heavily-armed terrorists,
mostly from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Al Bader, Hizbul Mujahiddin and the
Jaish-e-Mohhmad are waiting at 40 launch pads on the Pakistani side close to
the Line of Control in Pir Panjal mountains and Kupwara sector. Pakistani army
is providing frequent fire to provide cover to the terrorists as they attempt
to cross over into India.

Meanwhile, One
army man was critically injured when armed militants attacked an army patrol
party in Handwara area of Kupwara district on Saturday.

The attack took
place in the Maratgam area of Handwara on army party belonged to 30 RR. The
area has been cordoned by the Special Operation Group of Jammu and Kashmir
Police and 30 RR of Indian Army and a hunt has been started to nab the
attackers.

New Delhi, Oct.
18: Troops of the Russian armed forces’ Eastern Military District began landing
in Rajasthan this evening for a joint counter-terrorist wargame with the Indian
Army ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Moscow next week.

The seventh drill
in the series of exercises called Indra, the wargames from October 19 to 28
would involve mechanised forces of both armies working under a joint command in
a scenario that envisages an attack and destruction of a terrorist haven.

The exercise will
be conducted at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan. Command-level
meetings of the exercises would be held in Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bikaner.

About 250 soldiers
of Russia’s Eastern Military District would use Russia-supplied tanks and
armoured personnel carriers that are in use in the Indian Army.

“Both countries have troops
deployed in active counter-insurgency/counter-terrorist operations and
therefore, sharing each other’s military experiences will pay meaningful
dividends,” said a defence ministry statement.

Army sources said the troops
will initially familiarise with each other’s concepts, organisational
structures, weapons, equipment, training and tactical drills.

These would graduate to
integrated battle drills in semi-desert terrain. Army sources said the exercise
involved a scenario in which the two armies were functioning jointly in a UN
peacekeeping scenario.

Russia is India’s largest
supplier of military hardware but the operational principles of the two armies
are contrasting.

The 250 troops from the
Russian army who would be here under the command of Lt Gen. Vladimir G. Tzilko
are originally based in Siberia. The last edition of the Indra series of
exercises was held in Siberia in August 2012.

The mechanised combat groups
from India would be led by Colonel Rajesh Nambiar.

The exercises will continue
even as Prime Minister Singh leaves for Moscow for a visit that will involve
talks on major military projects. India wants to develop its military trading
relationship with Russia — in which it is mostly a buyer — to the level of a
co-producer and co-developer of weapons.